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JOE RICHEY

When cruel penances mar holidays 

Traumas revisited flood the mind
when seeing naked the world
wholly unkind
Screams from the ice
Another scream in the wind
some hell wrought upon
those who’ve sinned.
Breaking through to the other side
Ambulances risk suicide
through intersections live vivisections
Red lights green lights wine by the fire
What flippant and frivolous joys to miss
A tearful face to hold and kiss
When cruel penances mar holidays.